Category Archives: Travel

I had visited Dehradun & Mussoorie over a long weekend. We had travelled from Delhi via road in our own vehicle. You can read my earlier post about Dehradun trip here. I only had few hours to spend in Mussoorie before starting my return journey to Delhi the same day.

Places to visit in Mussoorie

Camel’s Back Road – It is a naturally formed stretch in shape of camel hump. Good for trekking or horse-ride in early morning or late evenings.

Mall Road – It is centrally located marketplace. You can indulge in shopping & food. Almost all hill stations that I have visited have a similar named road. 😀

Shop at Mall Road

Lal Tibba – This point is located on the highest peak in Mussoorie. You can view snow-clad Himalayan range from a telescope established here.But too much rain may act as a spoiler!

Kempty falls – These falls are located approx 13 km away from Mussoorie. You can reach here by hiring a cab. The falls are easily accessible and you can enjoy the water. Unfortunately, due to time constraint I was unable to visit the falls.

Cloud’s end – It is a colonial bungalow converted into heritage hotel. The surrounding area has dense forest covers which offers tranquility.

Cambridge Book Depot – If you are a bibliophile then this place is a must visit for you. Author Ruskin Bond visits the bookshop on Saturday to meet & greet people. 🙂

Mussoorie – the Queen of hills has lots to offer to its visitor. My personal experience was not so enchanting due to excess crowd over long weekend. Over commercialization & influx of vehicles lead to hours of jam on narrow hilly roads. Maybe, I will visit again on a quieter day & enjoy the beauty.

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I had visited Dehradun in monsoon over a long weekend. We drove for Delhi on our own & spent first day exploring Dehradun market. You can read my previous post here.

Day 2–

After having breakfast at McDonald’s, I had plans to visit the touristy places in Dehradun.

Forest Research Institute

The building is built-in Victorian architecture style & is a National Heritage Site. You might recognize the building from various movies shot here. It boosts of museum open to public. If you are interested in flora & fauna, then you should add this place to must visit list.

Source- wikipedia

Unfortunately, I did not spend much time here and don’t have any clear pictures.

Robber’s Cave – Guchhu Paani

This is a popular picnic spot in Dehradun located around 10 km outside the city. It is a naturally formed cave through which water flows. You can walk inside the cave by passing through the cold water. At places, small waterfalls are also visible. For me it was romantic experience, entering the cave by walking through the knee-deep water. 🙂

It is advisable to wear water-resistant clothing & shoes for wading through the water. Slippers are easily available on rent. Also, there are food stalls present at the entrance serving Maggi & Momos.

There is a story that robbers used to hide in this cave, hence it was named as Robber’s Cave by Britishers. Funny how some places get names!

Mindrolling Monastery

The monastery is located in Clement Town Area, Dehradun. The tranquil atmosphere around the monastery & the beautifully carved stupas capture your eyes at the first sight. It is also surrounded with lush green gardens. The place also serves as learning center for monks. I had spent few hours sitting here & did not even realize it.

It was almost evening by the time we had visited all the places & time to head back to the city in search for food. For the last day we went to Mussoorie, I will continue with my travel adventure in the next post.

What place did you like the most in Dehradun? Do share your thoughts. If you like the post, shower us some love by liking, commenting & sharing the post.

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The most awaited time for a working professional is a long weekend holiday. No need to apply leaves & get minimum three days off. It was on one such long weekend in monsoon that I had planned to visit Dehradun by driving down from Delhi. Dehradun is approximately 250 km. from Delhi via Saharanpur & takes six hours.

We had started our journey early morning relying on the google maps for directions. We were so naive! The network connections remain dicey and we were lost numerous times. Thanks to the locals who were kind enough to guide us to the correct route! As it was raining, the visibility on roads was low & then at entry into Dehradun we were stuck in an hour-long traffic jam at hills due to maintenance activity.

After the day long tiring journey & some rest, we head out to explore Dehradun in the evening.

Paltan Baazaar

It is located at the center of the city and is a street shopping market. Things ranging from jewellery, clothes, toys, household items – you can find it all here. It was buzzing with activity in the evening. And there is only one rule applicable – ‘One who bargains is the king.’ You can easily spend hours here lost in the maze of shops.

Clock Tower

It is located near the Paltan Bazaar & has names of freedom fighters engraved on it. The clocks were not working when I had visited. But, it does remind us of the foregone era when the sound of clock bells would fill the surrounding area. Sounds very British-like to me at least!

All this exploring had left us hungry & we went to Rajpur Road in search of restaurants.

Restaurant – Kalsang’s friend corner

My friend had suggested me to try out this restaurant and I was not disappointed. I liked the ambience and food. It has Tibetan & Chinese variety to offer. There is corner where different tourists have pinned currencies of their countries & left wonderful notes. For me personally, this was the highlight of the place.

On the first day we could only visit so few places in Dehradun & had planned to spend next day in local sightseeing.

Have you visited Dehradun? What was the highlight of your trip? Do share your trip memories with us. If you liked reading this post, shower us some love by sharing, commenting & revisiting the blog for more updates!

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I had spent around a week in Kashmir & each day was beautiful than the previous. The weather, rivers and mountains – all have a rhythm of their own. After our wonderful stay in Pahalgam, we returned to spend days in Srinagar.

Day 4 Srinagar

We spent our day visiting the gardens & Shankaracharya Hill Temple.

Nishat Bagh

It is the second largest Mughal Garden in Kashmir with twelve terraces. There are mountains in the background & splendid view of the lake in front. It was a sunny day & there families were enjoying picnic in the garden. The garden has a lot of variety to offer to the visitors & you are kind-of awe-struck!

Shalimar Bagh

The largest of all Mughal Gardens in Kashmir. It is another wonder of the Mughal Empire built by Jahangir to please his wife. All the gardens look similar, but it was disappointing as the fountains here were not working.

Chashme Shahi

This garden is famous for the story of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru getting the spring water to Delhi for his personal use. There is a fresh water spring which flows through the center of garden. It is believed to have medicinal properties. The people were collecting water in containers. It might have once been a source of pure water, but how can we be sure of it at present day!

Pari Mahal

It is located near to Chashme Shahi. The place is not too crowded. If you are interested in historical monuments, then the place would please you. It is inspired by Islamic architecture. You can get a bird’s-eye view for the valley from here.

Shankaracharya Temple

The temple is located on a hill-top & you need to climb approx 250 stairs to reach the top. Camera & cell phones are not allowed and it is guarded by Army personnel. Interesting fact about the temple is that it also has some Persian inscriptions. Also, the temple is sacred to Buddhists. That’s what I like about historical places; they are amalgamation of different cultures.

After spending the day exploring the city of Srinagar, we had done shopping for handicrafts in the local market. The whole day excursion was tiring we had dozed off to sleep soon.

Have you visited Mughal Gardens in Srinagar? Which one did you like the most? Do share your travel tales! 🙂